Dhani's Breakdown
by cheesycheese
Summary: Dhani has a hard time dealing with his dad's death, but Ringo is there to comfort him. Not ATU, Beatles.


**So new story. Be gentle I wrote this in like two hours, plus another half to edit it :P This is a oneshot for now, but I may continue this. Review and tell me what you guys think of the story, and if you want me to continue.**

**Btw, Dhani Harrison is SO hot. Well he used to be till he went all hippy but still. He was adorable :D**

* * *

'I love you all..'

These were George Harrison's last words as he slipped away. His face relaxed and the rise and fall of his chest stopped.

'No. George..' Olivia's sentence was cut off as she started sobbing. She was seated besides George's hospital bed, holding his hand. It was starting to get cool. She buried her head into the sheets, her body shaking with sobs. Paul came up behind her and started rubbing her back to comfort her as he looked at the now lifeless body of his old friend. Olivia suddenly sat up and buried her face into Pauls stomach, choking out sobs and soaking his shirt with tears. He couldn't have cared less. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and let his own tears fall, looking away from George

Dhani sat on George's other side, gaping at his father. He was gone. He couldn't be. He thought he'd prepared himself for this. It was inevitable. But looking at him now, it was...wrong. His stomach felt uneasy, his throat suddenly dry as he swallowed hard. Tears stung his eyes. He heard his mother and uncle Ringo sobbing, but it was like they were far away. His mind reeled as the reality hit him. His dad was gone.

Dhani abruptly stood up, noisily scraping his chair back and bolted out the door. He had to get away. He heard someone calling his name but he didn't stop. He sprinted down the hallway, tears cascading down his face by their own accord. His sneakers squeaked noisily on the floor as he just ran. He didn't even know where he was going, he just had to get away.

Turn, turn, door, stairs. He was running up stairs now, his rubbery legs still going as fast as they could. He was sobbing slightly now, panting for breath. Dhani came up to a door now, and he threw it open, the morning sun warm against his face. He'd made it to the roof somehow. The beautiful sunny day seemed to be mocking him. Dhani started to pace around the roof aimlessly with angry footsteps. It wasn't fair. His dad had suffered so much for so long, and now he was gone. Dhani angrily pushed his dark hair out of his face as a low growl left his mouth. It just wasn't fair!

He stalked over to the corner of the roof where some building supplies lay. He picked up the nearest brick and threw it as hard as he could against the small wall on the side of the door. Then another. Then another. He was yelling nonsense and curses now, unleashing his blind fury on the wall. His dad was gone, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it! He didn't care if anyone even heard him. With a final scream of anguish, he dropped the brick he was holding and punched the wall. Weeks of holding back tears and feelings for the sake of his parents, of not talking to anybody about it out of fear of breaking down, all his anguish and pain went into the punch, which was so hard it landed with a solid crunch, leaving a crack in the wall.

Dhani bit back the scream of pain, screwing his eyes shut and holding his broken hand to his stomach. He stayed leaning against the wall for a while, and when he finally opened his eyes, all the anger was gone. All that was left was the pain. The raw fresh pain. The hollowness in his stomach. The dull ache in his chest. The harsh realization that he was never going to see or talk to the person he'd looked up to all his life. Dhani was crying as he slid down the wall. He curled his knees to his chest, choking out sobs into his hands, breaking down completely

* * *

Ringo continued up the stairs, practically panting for breath. He was too old for this. He'd left Paul to take care of Olivia after Dhani had run away when George had...he couldn't even think it. The pain was too much. He just wanted to curl up into a corner and cry but he was too concerned about Dhani. He really thought of the lad as a son, and he knew this would be hard on him. He was very close to George. Ringo found himself standing at the doorway to the roof, trying to catch his breath. He'd tried to catch up with Dhani but he'd been too fast. He'd lost him quickly, and had then started asking everyone he saw if they'd seen him. An elderly nurse had told him that she saw him run up the staircase which led to the roof, crying. She hadn't the heart to stop him as he wasn't allowed up there. Everybody knew about George's condition.

He'd quickly thanked her and gone there. Ringo was kind of hesitant to go through the door now. Maybe the lad needed some time alone to deal with it. But then again, him and Dhani had always been close and he knew the lad would need someone to comfort him. Olivia had wanted to go after him but he had stopped her. Dhani had quite the temper sometimes and he didn't think she'd be able to handle it right now if he yelled at her.

Taking a deep breath, he walked through the door into the warm. He immediately heard muffled sobs to his left. He rounded the corner to see Dhani sitting there, crying into his hands. There were scattered bricks all around him, cracks all over the wall behind him. Ringo sighed sadly, piecing it together in his head. Dhani hadn't heard him come, so he said as softly as he could

'Dhani?'

The poor lad immediately dropped his hands and looked up at Ringo, trying in vain to stop his sobbing. He looked away as they just came again, burying his face in his knees with a groan  
Ringo's heart clenched painfully at how young and broken he looked as he started crying again. A tear slid down his own cheek as he kicked away a few bricks and slid down next to his nephew, wincing at the cracking in his knees. Dhani flinched too, looking up at Ringo with worried and painfilled eyes, hiccuping slightly.

Ringo just put an arm around his shoulder, ruffling Dhani's hair as he did. Dhani cried for a few more minutes into Ringo's shoulder, and Ringo cried with him, both of them silently supporting each other. When they both stopped, Ringo didn't move. He knew Dhani would talk to him when he was ready. Sure enough, after a while, Dhani sniffled and straightened up, wiping at his face, not looking at him. Once again, Ringo was shocked as to how much he looked like George. A pang went off in his stomach at the thought.

'Sorry for making you climb up here' Dhani said quietly, looking at him, his voice still shaky.

'It's okay'

'Mom?'

'Paul's with her.' Dhani nodded, looking away. Both of them just stayed silent for a while, deep in thought.

'I can't believe he's gone' Dhani said abruptly, staring at his hands. Ringo stayed quiet. Dhani obviously needed to speak his mind

'I mean..I knew it was coming. But..I thought I would be ready for it' He said, his voice choking a bit at the end, obviously trying to keep from crying again

'You can never be ready for something like this son.' Ringo said quietly

'Does it..does it get better?' Dhani asked somewhat reluctantly, finally looking at him with sad eyes.. Ringo knew he was referring to Maureen. It was still really painful to think about it

'I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that, I shouldn't have bought it up' Dhani said, sensing his hesitation and looking away

'No, it's okay' Ringo said, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. 'um.. It does get better. But I know what it feels like right now. I thought I would be ready for it too. But when it happened, it was like..' Ringo stopped, at a loss of words to explain the feeling, one which he was sure Dhani was feeling at the moment. 'But you have to face it, Dhan. You can't run from it. You know deep down you'll see him again'. Dhani just nodded, taking it all in.

'I'm kinda glad I got here after you were done chucking bricks' Ringo said seriously

Dhani looked embarrased, and immediately covered his right hand with his left, which Ringo now noticed was swelling and was bluish around the knuckles. He reached out and took it, bringing it closer to look at it.

'Oh Dhan..' he said, disappointed and worried. Dhani looked really ashamed of himself.

'I'm sorry! I just lost it a little' he mumbled, trying to yank his hand back, but Ringo held on. He gently poked at the first knuckle, and Dhani immediately tensed up and gasped sharply, shutting his eyes.

'I think you broke some son' Ringo said, finally letting it go

'I know' he said quietly, holding his injured hand to his stomach, his eyes still closed.

Ringo's phone suddenly rang, making them both jump. Chuckling, he extracted it from his pocket, and answered it.

'ello?'

'Rings where are ya man? You find Dhani?'

'Yeah, he's here with me'

'He okay? Liv's worried sick'

'Yeah, just needed some time to think.' He replied, glancing at his nephew, who was staring at his hands again

'Ok then. Tell him to take his time'

Paul hung up with a sigh. Ringo flipped his phone close to find Dhani getting up, and holding his hand out. Ringo took it, slowly hauling himself up. Both of them brushed themselves off

'You want me to go? If you wanna be alone..?' Ringo trailed off. He really did want him to feel better.

Dhani firmly shook his head. 'No, I need to be with mom' he said. He then enveloped Ringo in a giant hug, burying his face into his shoulder like he always did

'Thank you for being there' he said, voice slightly muffled by Ringo's shoulder.

'Anytime, lad' Ringo replied, patting his back

Dhani broke off with a sigh, pain still shining in his eyes

'You get that looked at later, a'ite?' ringo said firmly, gesturing towards his injured hand. Dhani just nodded, gave Ringo another quick hug, then opened the door and headed down the staircase

Ringo sighed, strolling over to the edge of the roof and looking over to the view of the city. He'd been friends with George for decades. He had only been a couple of years older than him, but George had been like a younger brother to him. He'd meant what he'd said to Dhani. He was sure they would both see him again.

'Uncle Ringo?'

Ringo turned around, surprised that Dhani had come back.

'Yeah son?' he asked, kind of concerned. Dhani was just standing there, looking kind of sheepish

'Uh..do you need any help getting down? Pretty long way..' he said nervously, gesturing to the staircase 'I'm sorry I just left you up here, I should've asked you..'

Ringo searched Dhani's face for emotion. His face still held an immense amount of sadness. Maybe he didn't want to go down there alone. But he had his mother, so Ringo concluded that Dhani was being sincere, as he saw no trace of the good natured humour he generally had. Ringo's heart swelled at his nephew's thoughtfulness.

'I made it up here son, I can make it down. But heck, I'll come with you' Ringo said softly, walking over to him, smiling slightly. Dhani just nodded, and both of them quietly made their way down the staircase, both thinking about the extraordinary man they'd just lost.


End file.
